The armory within the training camp.
It was a place that stored rare elixirs found on Hell Island and items with fairly special abilities.
It was not a place kept strictly secret, but it was a secret space the trainees did not know about.
And yet, to think the armory would come out of the mouth of Theron, a trainee.
Bengle looked at Theron with a flustered yet quite serious expression.
“How do you know about that?”
Depending on the answer, it could become a very big problem.
If the brat had left his designated area and gone down to the training camp's basement.
‘It will not end with ordinary discipline.’
Bengle narrowed his eyes at Theron.
But at Bengle's words, Theron.
“I happened to overhear the instructors talking, without meaning to.”
“The instructors talked about the armory?”
“Not to me. As I recall, they were just talking as they passed in front of our room late at night, near dawn.”
“Who was it?”
“……I apologize. I heard it half asleep, so I do not know which instructor said it.”
Neither good nor bad.
But it was an excuse that could smooth things over well enough.
Because instructors chatting among themselves on night duty was common.
At Theron's answer, Bengle glared toward where the instructors were gathered.
Eight junior instructors were assigned to each section, and he could not tell which of them it had been.
“I will see the instructors separately in my office later.”
“I, Instructor in Charge. It was not me.”
“Not me either, Instructor.”
“We will talk separately.”
Bengle looked at Theron again.
“If you take first place, you want an item from the armory?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what kind of place it is? It is a place that stores things trash like you could not obtain even if you gave up your lives.”
Bengle said to Theron with his characteristic ominous gaze.
“Even both of your arms would not make that a fair trade, you wretch.”
“In that case…….”
“No, never mind. I do not think for a moment that you wretches can take first place anyway.”
Bengle turned his gaze from Theron to the trainees.
At his terrifying gaze, most of the trainees scrambled to avoid his eyes.
At the sight, Bengle raised the corners of his mouth mockingly and said to Theron.
“Fine. If you take first place, I will take responsibility and submit the proposal to Chief Instructor Berton. Even if that fails, I will pay the price within the bounds of my own authority.”
Bengle continued.
“But first place aside, if you fail to reach third place, I will cut off your arms without fail and make an example of you, you wretch. A bastard who does not know his place is not needed here.”
“……Understood.”
He seemed to have a greater yearning for a high ranking than Theron had thought.
‘Among the instructors, that's power.’
Was it an outburst after being looked down on as incompetent by the other instructors for so long?
A better deal than expected had been struck.
At Theron's answer, Bengle shot him an ominous look and turned away.
And when all the instructors had left along with him.
“You, you, you…… crazy bastard!”
Renil shouted loudly at Theron.
How on earth did he plan to clean up after pulling such an absurd stunt?
But Theron pretended to cover his ears and turned his head.
Perka asked with a serious expression.
“What on earth are you thinking, Theron? Do you have some kind of plan?”
“……Of course.”
“What plan? What on earth is it?”
At Theron's words, Renil came closer.
Perka and Tioren also looked at Theron, curious.
But…….
“There's something I need to do first.”
“……?”
“Something to do?”
When Perka tilted his head, Theron walked over to where the trainees were gathered.
And in the middle of them.
“As of this moment, anyone who won't follow my word, come at me now. I'll take on every one of you.”
He said it, pointing at those who had attacked him in the Shadow Forest, Falcot among them.
At that, Falcot and his group made dumbfounded expressions.
“Crazy bastard…… If you came back alive, you should've kept your skull bowed and your belly flat on the ground……!”
Falcot, whose arm had been wounded by Theron, glared and shouted.
But at that moment.
THWACK!
With a dull sound, Falcot's body flew into the air.
Yellow teeth scattered through the air, dropping to the ground like kernels of corn.
THUD!
Falcot hit the ground and completely lost consciousness.
Then Theron looked at the rest and said.
“Next.”
“Crazy bastard……!”
“That bastard dies here today!”
Those who had grievances against Theron charged as a group.
Their number alone came to as many as eleven.
But Theron slowly drew up his mana as he watched the charging group.
At this moment, at least, he had to clearly engrave it on the rest of them.
‘Of this place…….’
Who the leader was.
Sorry as he was, it seemed there was no choice but to do it this way for now.
Out of fifty, eight had died.
The other sections were probably in similar situations, but taking first place in the next test with the underachievers of Section 5 was no easy task.
Moreover…….
‘Considering the type of test…… every single person counts, no matter what.’
First, it was important to press them down and clearly settle the pecking order.
To do so, he must never show a sloppy side.
Recalling the experience he had gained in his past life, Theron looked at the one running at him.
Compared to the small-framed Theron from before, the difference in weight class would have been considerable, but.
‘Now we're about even?’
Well, even if not, it would not matter.
“You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!”
He was the one who had also actively attacked Theron in the Shadow Forest.
Was his name Valk?
Among the trainees here, his body was well developed enough to rank at the very top.
Of course, seeing that he was not in Theron's memory, he must have been one of the trainees who disappeared along the way.
Theron looked at Valk in the lead, along with the others on either side of him.
Their expressions.
Their ominous eyes.
And where and how they would attack, all of it was vividly visible, as if in slow motion.
It was thanks to all of his senses being explosively amplified when he absorbed the Blood Jade Fruit.
“Die!”
SHHK!
Valk's fist shot toward Theron's face.
Valk had a fairly well-balanced, muscular body, and his fist was fast and carried strong power.
But it was the moment Valk's fist extended all the way.
“……!”
When Theron took a step back, the fist stopped precisely in front of Theron's nose.
Valk gritted his teeth and tried to extend it further, but.
THWACK!
“GLURK!”
Theron's fist, swung from bottom to top, smashed into his jaw.
As Valk, having bitten his tongue, flew backward with a bizarre scream, the ones on either side flinched.
Valk, that easily……?
But the moment they looked at Theron again, stars flashed before their eyes.
WHACK! THWACK!
Theron's fist and elbow had landed precisely on their faces.
The two collapsed to the ground without being able to do anything.
“…….”
“……What's happening right now?”
And the other trainees who had been watching could not hide their dumbfounded expressions.
Perka, Renil, and Tioren in particular dropped their jaws before they knew it.
“Th, that's killer…….”
Renil said, sucking back his drool with a slurp.
Was this what they meant by movements like flowing water?
Watching Theron's movements now, it was as if…….
“It's like he already knows…… where they'll attack before he moves?”
“I think so too. Otherwise, how could anyone…… move like that?”
It looked like choreographed motions, as if the exchanges had been rehearsed in advance.
In an instant, four of them, including Falcot and Valk, were knocked out. At that, when the others flinched and glanced at one another.
“I set the table for you, and you still can't do anything? Is this just a gathering of morons? After all this, you're going to go scheme behind my back again later?”
Theron said, looking at the trainees around him as if they were pathetic.
At the sight of him, as though turning everyone into enemies, Perka, Renil, and Tioren felt their hearts pounding.
How on earth was he going to clean this up…….
But Theron looked at each trainee one by one.
“As you all saw, I made a bet with the instructor. That we'd make the top three in the next test, no matter what.”
It was a completely different figure from the Theron of before.
The atmosphere, the build, and…… the presence that overwhelmed the whole place.
And as if putting a period on it, Theron said.
“If we don't make the top three and my arms get cut off, I promise on everything I have. I'll kill every one of you. So before that, either kill me here…… or follow me.”
The atmosphere sank coldly.
It was a situation where one felt they had to be careful even about breathing loudly.
But it was then.
“I'm Harganto. So if we follow you, we can get good results in the next test?”
He took a step forward and asked.
Theron nodded.
“Yes. Of course, I'm aiming for first, not third. And for that, we'll have to put the spurs to our training from here on.”
“……Fine. I'll follow.”
With those words, Harganto looked at the trainees around him and said.
“I, Harganto, follow Theron. Of course, I still have my doubts. But thanks to this guy, one thing has become certain.”
That the instructors' absurd beatings had disappeared.
“That alone makes me think he's done something for us. Is there anyone among us who could stake his arms on a reckless challenge like this?”
At Harganto's words, the other trainees fell silent.
Because not a single thing he had said was wrong.
And then.
“I follow Theron too.”
“Me too.”
“Same here.”
Perka, Renil, and Tioren came over near Theron and said.
Then the heavy, cold atmosphere began to change strangely.
“……Then I'll go along with it, even if I'm being played…….”
“Honestly, if it just means no more getting the shit beaten out of us for ridiculous reasons…… that's good enough.”
“Agreed on that.”
“I'll follow too.”
And then one or two more.
As other trainees stepped forward and spoke, before long, many people had gathered around Theron.
And lastly, there were those watching from a distance, gauging the mood.
“……F*ck, what do we do?”
“Ah…… this is driving me nuts.”
They were the ones who had sided with Falcot and Valk and attacked Theron.
But Theron looked at them.
“What's past is forgotten. But if anything unsavory happens from now on, I won't let it slide.”
“……Are you serious?”
“You're just letting it go? We tried to kill you.”
“Yes. I swear it in front of the other…… comrades here.”
In that moment, the trainees' eyes shook.
Because the word…… ‘comrade’ from Theron's mouth had shaken their hearts.
The hellish training and beatings they went through every day.
And in a situation where they had to keep each other in check and compete, they had never once thought of such a thing.
But…….
“……Comrades, huh.”
“Not bad.”
“Yeah, come to think of it, f*ck…… they tell us to compete every day, but there's no reason for us to fight each other.”
In an instant, those who had been on edge began to unite as one.
And at the center of it.
‘……It's changing.’
‘Theron is…… changing this place.’
Was Theron, completely different from before.
Tab 13